The Best Laid Plans
by pocketfear13
Summary: A Critical Role fanfiction Allura has a plan. Life doesn't seem to care


Lady Allura Vysoren, archanist of Emon took another look around her chambers to assure everything was in proper order. She had been planning this for months, and nothing, _nothing,_ was going to ruin what was going to be the perfect evening. Her girlfriend was due home shortly, in fact could arrive at any moment and she couldn't be more excited. Kima had been away a mere two weeks, practically no time at all in their long history together but having her away for any length of time left Allura with a gaping sense of not quite being whole until the warrior returned home. A glance around their chambers revealed everything to be set as she wanted it: dinner was nearly finished, a collection of their favorite foods- enough to fill them but not enough to quell any...amorous urges they had after her surprise that night-, the softest and warmest blankets they owned on the bed-freshly washed and enough of them to sufficiently cover her Halfling who despised cold more than Allura thought it was physically possible to hate something, a fire stoked with a pile of firewood waiting, two bottles of wine pulled from the cellar-Kima didn't particularly care what she drank and had said as much on more than one occasion but Allura like wine and Kima liked making Allura happy. t

The whole chamber was cleaned and organized- Allura's desks and laboratory cleaned off completely so nothing could disturb or distract them that night, and finally, sitting in a plain but lovely wooden box on the dresser near the bed, Kima's ring. Allura had briefly given thought to waiting for Kima to ask for her hand as the Halfling tended to take a bit more charge in their relationship (as she did in most areas of her life) before resolving herself to doing it herself. For all that she was wonderful and Allura's everything, Kima was dense in some ways, still believing however many years later that she wasn't good enough for Allura, that Allura could do better which was downright appalling to the archanist. To Allura it was Kima, strong, brave, loyal, devote Kima who could do better. Kima who could dead-lift someone twice her size without so much as breaking a sweat, who was a champion of the dragon, a warrior Paladin of Vengeance who protected and fought for those around her with such reckless abandon that Allura was often in awe of her. Kima who was all glorious muscle and bright eyes and teasing smiles, who loved Allura with every ounce of herself so intensely that often the blonde felt like she was struggling to give her back a fraction of what she received in return. Kima who-in Allura's humble opinion-could have any woman she wanted, had chosen Allura. Tall, awkward, gangly Allura, who was all arms and legs and stubbornness, who babbled when nervous and got overly excited about things most people didn't care about in the slightest. Bookworm Allura who blushed to easily and drank more coffee than was healthy, who forgot to do things like sleep and eat when she was reading, who wasn't a fighter, not really. She could hold her own if she absolutely needed to but battle made her stomach twist unpleasantly. Allura who trusted too easily and left books laying around everywhere and sometimes kept Kima up far later than she should have working on a spell that didn't even work in the end. Kima had chosen her with all her faults and every time she looked up at her Allura felt her heart melt and her stomach flip and she had woken up two months ago and decided enough was enough, she wanted Kima as her wife and was going to make it happen.

Thus began her search for the ring that currently laid in the box on the dresser. Allura went and opened it to assure herself it was still there (it was, she had checked it no less that 8 times this evening). The ring itself was plain, fitting it wearer, just a platinum band, no embellishments, no stones, just silver in color and small enough to fit the Halfling's tiny finger. Allura had had it made and when it arrived she had gone to Shaun and (after swearing him to absolute secrecy) they had spent the better part of the past two months enchanting it and inlaying it with every protection spell they could find. Every spell Allura felt Kima could need during a battle, every boost of strength and healing- no matter how small- got poured into the ring. Allura pocketed it in her blue and gold silk gown (the one she knew Kima liked her in) and took a deep steadying breath.

She expected to be nervous but all she felt was contentment and a sense of finality and eagerness for Kima to return home so they could begin their evening together. She sat down on one of the chairs by the table and toyed with the ring box in her pocket for a moment before she heard the knocker downstairs. Allura kept her pace brisk but tried to remain calm to not spoil or give away anything. (Kima could sense when something was even slightly off with Allura and had ways of pulling the information out from her). SHe opened the door with a creak and her stomach sank when she saw Shaun standing there, forehead wrinkled in concern, a small figure in his arms, head lolling bonelessly. Allura clamped a hand over he mouth before Shaun brought Kima inside, reassuring her before she had a chance to fully panic, "She's all right. Or she will be all right. I found her trying to get back home. She's lost some blood but I got a blood replenishing potion and few healing droughts in her. She's just going to need a few days to recover."

Kima lifted her head weakly to glare at him, "I can speak for myself you know."

Allura's mouth pinched with worry and she rushed them inside the bedroom, instructing Shaun to lay Kima on the table often used for when one or the other (mostly one over the other) needed healing. Once Kima was down Allura fully looked her over and her stomach and heart dropped before twisting unpleasantly. Kima looked bad, certainly she had looked worse, but nevertheless she looked bad. She seemed to be having trouble even keeping her head up and a cut on her forehead was bleeding sluggishly. She coughed once and didn't quite manage to hide the wince and gasp when she did. The rest of her body was covered by her armor so Allura couldn't quite measure the level of damage but the armor itself was scuffed and blood-splattered and had a dent in the chest that made her heart do a little dance of worry. Allura looked at Shaun and tried to keep her voice was wavering as best she could, "Please tell me its not that bad because to me it looks bad."

Kima scoffed and coughed again with a wince, "You should see the other guy."

Allura sank down to press a kiss to Kima's hair, "Hush. Just please, hush."

Shaun gave her a gentle smile, "It looks worse than it is. I promise you. A few broken ribs, some blood loss I already took care of, that head wound might need some stitches, and she's getting sick."

Kima glared up at them weakly, "I'm right here. I can hear both of you," She turned her head and coughed with a wince again, "I'm fine Allie. Just ran into some trouble on the way home, was very briefly out-numbered. Couple broken ribs, knocked my shoulder out of place, couple cuts and scraped but I'm fine. I've had way worse, you know this."

She coughed again and it left her breathless for a moment before she winced. Allura smooth some of the hair back from Kima's face and pressed their foreheads together despite the blood still dripping down from her hairline, "You have to stop coming home to me like this."

Kima managed to lift a hand and run it over Allura's cheek, "Sorry Allie."

Allura closed her eyes and took a steadying breath, "Shaun can you bring me one of the potions for pain from my desk. And start some tea. I need to stitch this cut."

Kima closed her eyes and seemed to focus on breathing for a moment, "There may be another one on my chest. Hit between the armor sections."

Allura nodded and tried to keep herself from crying and she waved her hand, arcane energy bringing a needle and thread to her without having to move herself, "You're sick."

Kima's eyes stayed closed and her voice was tired and quiet, "Rained a lot. Temperature dropped too."

Allura set about cleaning the head wound with boiling water and cloth Shaun seemed to pull from nowhere. He hands shook as she threaded the needle and Gilmore gently plucked from her hands, "I'll stitch, you get her armor off."

Allura nodded and set about removing her girlfriend's chest plate and gauntlets first, trying to keep focused on the task at hand and not bursting into tears. Kima, on her part didn't protest or even open her eyes, which worried Allura more. The Halfling on her part seemed to be focused on breathing shallowly and avoiding coughing as much as possible. As the chest plate came off fully revealing the chain mail underneath Allura sighed, "Love I need to sit you up, need to get the chain mail off you."

Kima's voice was quiet, "Not sure if that's going to happen without help."

Allura lifted her from behind, one arm fully supporting her shoulders, "This may hurt. Are you ready?"

Kima's voice was tight, "No. Do it anyway."

Allura couldn't withhold her own wince and Kima sharp intake of breath as the mail shirt was lifted, causing her shoulders to shift. The ragged tunic underneath was soaked through with a mixture of rain, blood, and sweat and Allura could clearly see where it was sticking to the chest wound Kima had mentioned. Gilmore (who had finished with Kima's head while Allura was distracted) began to thread another needle preemptively as Allura cut it off down the middle, exposing Kima's torso, bare except for her breast-band. Sure enough, across the upper part of her chest was a slice deep enough to scar reaching from left collarbone to come to a stop just before her right breast. The cut was far too close to Kima's neck for Allura's liking and she said as much, beginning to clean it as she worried at her lower lip. The wound itself was deep but not particularly wide however there was a grey color to the edges of it that was cause for concern, "Kima...did this have poison in it?"

Kima nodded weakly, eyes still closed, "Orc party. Already took what I needed to for it. Healed what I could. Not dangerous just making things heal slow."

Allura felt the damn holding the tears back begin to crack and a few tears slipped down her face, "What am I going to do with you?"

Kima opened one eye and looked around the room, taking in the freshly made bed, warm fire going, and general cleanliness of their chambers and her face fell, "Allie...shit...I'm sorry. You had a plan didn't you? Dinner, time together for when I came back and I fucked it up."

Allura cut her off with a gentle kiss and Shaun began to stitch the chest wound causing Kima to noticeably wince, "Hush. You're fine. I just worry about you. You always seem to return to me...less than whole."

Kima's eyes were bleary but her voice came out stronger than it had been previously, "You had a whole evening planned, I'm sure of it. I know you. And I come home bleeding everywhere and ruining it for you and-fuck it Shaun that hurt!"

Gilmore murmured a soft apology and went to retrieve the bandages he had gather for Allura. The archanist pressed a kiss to Kima's scalp with a sigh and sniffle, "It's nothing that can't wait. You're home, you're alive. That's all I truly care about. Everything else can..."

She trailed off and looked up as Shaun handed her a roll of bandages with a judgmental raised eyebrow. Allura looked down at Kima whose eyes had closed again before coughing roughly and wincing, "Bahamut's left hairy testicle that fucking hurt. Remind me to never break ribs and get a cough at the same time again."

Shaun raised an eyebrow elegantly, "Bahamut's what now? Why only the left one?"

Kima weakly sent him a rude gesture, out of breath from pain and coughing and Allura made a decision, "Perfect night be damned. Shaun will you give us a moment?"

Kima opened one eye warily, "I don't know if I want him leaving yet. I feel like I'm going to get yelled at."

Gilmore rose to his feet gracefully and went to other side of room to the laboratory table, "I'll mix up something for the pain and something we can put into a tea for that cough. You ladies play nice."

Allura waited until he was far enough away, back turned to at least give them the illusion of privacy, "I had an evening planned for us for when you returned because I wanted to do something."

Kima winced but not from pain, her eyes open and guilt ridden, "I'm sorry Allie. I didn't think, I rushed in and you put thought into this and I ruined it for you and-"

Allura shut her up with a gentle finger to her lips, "EVening be damned. You're home and more or less whole. That's good enough for me. If I constantly wait for the perfect moment it will never happen and this moment is as perfect as any because you're here and you're home."

Allura removed the box from her pocket and opened it so Kima could see. There was a long moment of silence before Kima snorted, "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Allura's stomach fell to her feet, "I-I just-"

Kima cut her off with a smile, "Go inside my scabbard. On the floor, under the holy avenger. Black velvet bag."

Allura's heart thumped hopefully as she did what she was told. Sure enough, tucked into a small, secret pocket in the scabbard was a small black velvet bag that she removed. Kima's eyes fluttered and she closed them for a moment, clearly exhausted, "Open it."

Allura gently dumped the contents into her palm and gasped. A gold ring, possibly the most beautiful ring she had ever seen fell into her hand. A thin gold band with a very decent sized blue diamond in the center, cut into the shape of a heart, flanked by four smaller sapphires sparkled back at her as she looked at with trembling hands, "Kima...is this-"

Kima nodded, eyes opened again, "Took my forever to come up with something that suited you. You're always talking about how gold and blue are your favorite colors."

She was right, they were. For years they had been silver and blue but one look at Kima in that shining gold had instantly changed that for her.

Kima continued, "Shaun helped me out with the design. Wanted it to be perfect enough for you. He helped me put a protection spell in it. Blessed it myself too."

Allura's head whipped around to look at Gilmore who was watching them with a mischievous smile. When he caught he gaze, he shrugged one shoulder, "I was sworn to secrecy."

Allure couldn't help but laugh wetly, eyes already filling with tears. Kima smiled at her before attempting to push herself into a sitting position. Allura immediately went to support her with a noise of displeasure, "You shouldn't be-"

Kima gave her a look, "Like hell I'm doing this laying down."

Her Halfling took a minute to settle herself, eyes closed as she fought down a cough and the pain before looking Allura in the eye and holding out her hand for Allura's own larger one, "Lady Allura Vysoren, Allie. My Allie. Light of my life, will you do me the honor or marrying me even though you could do so much better?"

Allura nodded, not even bothering to withhold her tears anymore, "Only if you, Lady Kima of Vord, War Paladin of Vengeance, servant of the Platinum Dragon, champion of heart will marry me."

Kima rolled her eyes, "Of course."

Allura beamed, "Put it on me?" She handed her the ring which Kima slid gently over Allura's finger, "It's beautiful Kima. It must have cost you a fortune."

Kima's eyes were soft, "You're worth it."

Allura felt a blush creeping up her cheeks and she removed Kima's ring from the box, "I know it isn't very ornate but you're not the ornate type. I wanted something simple you could wear that you'd like because you're in battle and something gaudy just isn't you and it seemed distracting but it's just platinum because that seemed fitting what with your order and all but I inlaid it with protection spells and such that Shaun helped me with and-"

Kima kissed her firmly to shut her up before pulling away to cough sharply, "You were babbling."

Allura blushed, "Sorry."

Kima's hand still hadn't let go of Allura's hand she put the ring on, calloused fingers gently, ever so gently rubbing the top of hers seemingly without noticing she was even doing it. Allura slipped the ring out of the box, letting it clatter to the floor so she didn't have to remove her other hand from Kima's hold, "Can I put it on you?"

Kima's smile was so soft and Allura couldn't help the trill of excitement go through her as she slipped the ring over her fiancee's finger. Kima drew in a sharp breath before exhaling slowly, face peaceful as her eyes fell closed, "It feels like you. It's...perfect."

Allura pressed her forehead to Kima's, mindful of the bandages and carded her finger gently though her hair, "I love you. I love you and I'm going to marry you."

The was a moment of silence before Gilmore spoke from the sidelines, "Forget every romance novel I ever read, reality is so much better."

Allura glared at him halfheartedly, "You knew about the ring."

"Of course Darling."

Allura smiled, "And you didn't tell?"

Gilmore looked scandalized, "I would never. I was sworn to secrecy by both of you and I would never break that trust...plus I totally wanted to see how this turned out and I have to say it was better than I had ever dreamed."

Kima's eyes slipped closed again with a sigh that turned to a cough bringing Allura back to the present, "I'm going to get that tea. You're going to drink that and a potion, you're going to have some soup and then we are going to cuddle in front of the fire while you sleep."

Kima smiled, "As you wish my Lady."

Later that night, the sky dark, rain beginning to pitter-patter against the windows, steadily picking up speed and ferocity the newly engaged couple was curled on the bed, fire still going. Kima's head was in Allura's lap, unclothed and breathing deeply as she slept. Allura, in her night shift, was flipping through a book as she absent-mindedly stroked her hand over her Halfling's head, eyes more focused on the ring on her left hand than the book she was pretending to read. She was startled out of her gazing by Kima's voice, "I'm going to marry you."

Allura looked down at Kima's glassy eyes, the cough having turned to a mild fever and chills, "Yes. Yes you are. We're going to get married. Just us and a witness and nothing will stop us because I-"

Kima cut her off with a sleepy, cheeky grin as she reached up with her ringed hand to stroke her new fiancee's cheek, "I know."

Allura couldn't help but grin back and press a kiss to Kima's palm, "You know."


End file.
